I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...
May 05, 2014 - 11:01 a.m.
I have to do laundry and make up at least two tests today. I should make up a practice final too. The end of this semester snuck up on me and I have to do something I hate, give take home tests.
It looks like Facebook might be showing my posts to more people again. My readership had crashed and I'm sure it's because of Facebook but 17 people have read me this morning before I posted. I do link to old entries every night. If you never want to miss Wise Madness and any other blogs or frequently updated sites I suggest you sign up for Feedly. That's what I do. When Google Reader was dropped that's where I moved my blog reading too. They have a phone app too.
It isn't news that I haven't been happy lately. I don't try and hide it when I write. Letting people know what's going on inside my head is a big reason I write this. I don't complain much in person.
The good feeling from seeing We're About 9 and ilyAIMY and so many friends Saturday night wore off by yesterday. I was in my "I just want to lay in bed and mope" mode. The worst thing I can do then is lay in bed and mope. I had two things on my calendar and made myself do them. That's always the right decision.
First up Mark Allen Berube was playing a strange gig at a playground in Kensington. I love Mark and haven't seen him perform in ages. I saw him not perform on Saturday. Getting there was a bit of an adventure as none of the subways by my house are running on the weekends. I did not have a good experience with the shuttle bus on Saturday and didn't again yesterday. As I got close thanks to a red light I just missed it. I crossed over and asked an MTA employee how often the busses run. He said, "every ten to fifteen minutes but it might be more." He then said, "There should be one soon."
I said, "Didn't I just miss the bus?"
"Yes."
"So in other words I have the longest possible expected wait. It isn't coming soon."
What was he thinking? I went for option number two taking the Utica Ave bus up to Fulton Street where I could catch the 
. That's express and is an easier transfer to the 
So was not a bad option. The bus came right away. At the subway a 
came first. It runs local and I let it go. I waited a long time. A train came. I was another . I took it. I got to Jay Street raced to the platform and guess what. I just missed it. it took me a full hour to get there. I could have walked.
I was 15 minutes late but that doesn't mean I missed anything. These things often run late. But as I got out of the Subway I heard music. Because of the circuitous route the sound took to reach me I could not make things out clearly. I didn't actually recognize Mark's voice and couldn't make out the lyrics, but I could tell it was Mark by the cadence of his speech. I had to walk all around the playground to find an entrance and I did. Then I realized I should have brought my stadium chair. It was in a playground. There are no seats. I sat on the ground. It was also hot on the black asphalt and took off my sweatshirt. Good thing Mark is great and was worth it.
I think I was the only one sitting older than 6. Most of Mark's songs are very funny. What was funnier was him doing a depressing song for that crowd. I almost started laughing. He of course did funny songs too including my favorite that he dedicated to me, "Higgs Boson." Yes there's a song about the Higgs Boson. There should be? So a Higgs boson goes to a Catholic Church on Sunday. The priest asked, "what are you doing here?" The boson responded, "I have to be here. Without me there is no mass."
After the set I talked to Mark and Felix for a bit then headed to Trader Joe's where I had to pick up a few things. I saw this:
It is amazing. I have to try mixing it with peanut butter.
I knew the timing was tight. I had to be at Rockwood Music Hall at 8:00 and of course the trains aren't running by me. I got home, put away the groceries, did a few things, and headed out again, a bit later than I wanted to.
This time I just missed the Utica Ave bus so took the shuttle to the 
to the and got at Rockwood at 8:02. I know that's never too late. for an 8:00 show. I was there to see Raina Rose and Rebecca Loebe. I checked the sign out front to see which stage they were on, I was pretty sure it was 1. They were on none of them. then I saw that Becca was on stage 1 and 10 PM. Arrggghh and no sign of Raina. I should have checked before I left. I put that on my calendar when it was announced months ago. But then Raina canceled. I put the times wrong. It was supposed to be Raina at 9:00 and Becca at 10:00. So they kept Becca at 10. Now I had two hours to kill. Notice I never ate dinner, just some chocolate and cookie swirl. so I went to my favorite Georgia BBQ around the corner for the best fried chicken in New York. I splurged and got a special side, bacon cheese grits. They were amazing. Then I went to pay. They don't take credit cards. I thought I had enough money on me. I didn't. I went to the ATM next door. There was a network error. I went to the one across the street. There was a network error. I went to one down the block it couldn't read my card. I went to one in the other direction, there was a network error. Obviously something was wrong with the lines on the block. I went down to Stanton and found one that worked. Good thing they know me in the restaurant and trust me. They said that if I couldn't find one that worked we'd work something out.
I finished at 9:00 and still had an hour to kill. But I saw that the performer before Becca was Steve Addabo. I know Steve. I met him twice in a short period of time. One was at WfUV. He was there with Suzanne Vega, he plays in her band and has written songs with her. We talked in the kitchen. I didn't talk to Suzanne. I actually wasn;'t sure that was him till he mentioned Suzanne. I knew for sure I met him at the Common Ground during one of their Winter Holiday shows.
He had been a sideman and just came out with his first album. I knew he could play guitar great. He can also write songs and sing. He was real good,. I was once again amused by irony. He started with an acoustic guitar and switched to an electric. For his banter I take it he's more comfortable on that. But it was on the electric he did is one real folk song, it had a freight train and everything. Halfway through his set Becca joined me. That was nice.
Oh I got pics of Steve. As you can see he's saint, he has a halo.
I have finally had it sink into my bones that Becca is not just great but funny. I have seen her countless times and it always seems like each time I say to myself, "I forgot how funny she is."
I think Becca fits into my "intelligent pop" genre. I'm not totally sure because of the funny songs. Some of her songs totally fit. They seem like they are talking about love and relationships in an ordinary way and you have to pay attention to see that they are brilliant and original. I think that's an advantage as most people don't want brilliant and original. They want to hear platitudes. But of course I hate hearing platitudes and by paying attention I don't. She had one new song that said exactly what I have been thinking about. And what's great is that I can say that and not have to tell you what I was thinking about and as it's a new song you won't know it so you can't figure it out. Hell you can't even figure out what I was trying to say that last sentence. Hell I can't figure it out. But I can figure out that Becca is a knock your socks off talent. That's why my feet were cold going home.
I hung out with Becca and a friend of hers for a bit after the show. She was going to stop for fast food but I don't her that's nuts. She's in New York. We don't eat fast food. Get something good. So she did. I would have loved to have gone with her but it was late and I had a long trip home.
I can take the in either direction when I go home. I go to Jay street like I did going there and switch to the or go back one stop and switch to the 
and take that to the 
I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.
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On The Road Again - May 26, 2018
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Horvendile May 05, 2014
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